ABSTRACT
Environmental science has often been presented as the justification for environmental concern and policymaking. But just as environmental policy is contested, scientific research can also be challenged. According to Haas and Benedick, scientific knowledge can transform previously irreconcilable negotiating positions. Alternative ways of thinking about the relationship between science and politics have been advanced. One of the defining principles of early approaches to epistemic communities was the belief that scientific knowledge could reduce political uncertainty and overcome interests that had previously acted as barriers to environmental policy. In addition to being subject to social norms, normal scientific knowledge is not always meaningful or appropriate to everyone. Epistemic authority is not just connected to the research itself but also to the social and political contexts in which knowledge is generated and communicated. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is probably the best-known epistemic community in global environmental policy.
